I saw an ad to rent a house for a short time during an airshow we were attending. There were photos and all. Very legit looking like a vrbo ad. I inquired as to payment and was given banking information to take to Bank of America and do a deposit into this account. I did a search on trulia with the address and noted this particular house was for sale. Flag went up! I spoke to the bank and told me that there’s something fishy on this guys account and recommended not to do business with him. It turns out that empty for sale houses owned by other people are being offered for rent by strangers who take the money and run. No more Craig’s list for me.
That renter scam is ubiquitous. CL is just one of many venues used for the scam. Scammers troll the MLS listings and post rental ads before the property makes it to Trulia, Zillow, etc. The one a relative encountered was a $50 application fee for processing the rental application for a property that was for sale. We’d avoided.